I have been thinking lately of how we are taught to love. We are taught to love in the larger sense of the word: not to feel but to act. There is a dichotomy here that must not be ignored, lest you find yourself relying solely on the feeling which tends to waver. We have the ability to order our actions. This is why love must fall under this category of our lives as well! 🙂

The bible teaches over and over again that we should love to the point of offending people. Jesus told us that we should expect persecution for following the way that he loved. The disciples and apostles understood this in a way that we don’t. They were drug from their homes, imprisoned, beaten, and some even put to death for the sake of love. So, naturally, I wrote a poem.*

They pulled me by my elbows out into the streets.

Those same elbows, ten years younger, rested on the table as my Lord spoke to me of love.

Serving rich red wine around the group of friends:

We wondered while we sipped if this was once water, and smiled in remembrance of His party tricks.

We didn’t know then what we know now- We were still celebrating a wedding.

Now my feet drag through the sun warmed dust. I can’t help myself

as I give into sin:

digging my heels into the dirt a little more to make their job harder.

Oh, “Love thy neighbor”

I pick up my feet and walk.

Repentance.

Check.

My ears perk up at the familiar sounds of soldiers ransacking

my things.

Pure muscle, they are.

And pure soul, I am reminded.

Is it sinful to smile, knowing I’ve barely anything to my name?

I have much more tangible things to give than teapots and a sleeping mat.

one is traveling at the rate of 74 km per hour and while trying to convert that to miles to figure the approximate point in time they will reach the intersection,

the other is practically jumping its tracks because

graffiti is art too

and two lovebirds are eloping in one of her cars.

For heaven’s sake, pop the cork and sit on that chair.

Not the brown one, but the big fluffy one that I thought could be off limits the first few times. Like maybe one of those sitcom dads would appear at the top of the stairs wagging his finger to the amusement of the studio audience.

It didn’t happen.

I will curl up on the ottoman and have the audacity to paw at your knees every so often in a sort of mixed up, shaken

If you missed part two of this post, it might be worth the while taking a peek at it. The only conclusion I can offer would include stripping cheeseburgers and hungry atheists. Go check it out!

Lewis successfully (with a bit of that lovable intelligent British humor) compares the sexual appetite to that of the food appetite. In my last post I followed along his footsteps. I now would like to deviate from food for two reasons: 1) Lewis continues along this analogy, and I think for a blog I have sufficiently covered it and 2) I have not eaten lunch today and would still like to cherish what I will eat in about half an hour!

Over the past century, there has been an immense effort to coax talk of sex from the shadows of Victorian propriety into the spotlight of the modern conversation. Now, one constantly hears the phrase “Sex is nothing to be ashamed of.” Lewis says that the Church wholeheartedly agrees! The old Christian teachers taught that if original sin did not occur, sex would in fact be even greater and more fulfilling than it is now! However, concealed within the above statement is a smaller whisper that says, “The state into which the sexual instinct has now got is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Again, Lewis leads us back into a food analogy. Yes, enjoying your dinner is not a shameful thing. However, centering your life around culinary delights and peeping at food covertly during your spare time is quite another issue. Similarly, engaging in sex at the appropriate time (within marriage) is a completely natural and good thing! However, that is not our societal norm.

When we begin to evaluate the advertisements shamelessly putting the spotlight on sex to sell us a new car or pasta strainer, they are dripping with the promise of health, youth, and happiness. What does our knowledge tell us about our current sexual state? That it leads to quite the opposite of health, youth, and happiness: instead we have disease, deception, jealousies, and broken relationships.

Therefore, if these qualities are the results of a “natural” desire, does this really point toward the original biological need? They are detrimental to this purpose. Sex has gone beyond what it was created for.

I think about half of my potential readers just gave up and clicked away to more interesting websites! Au revoir!

… Wait, you’re still reading? Ok then! Here we go! 🙂 I am using “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis as my guide for this post. I have just finished his short essay on the subject, and cannot wait to get some thoughts out there!

He states within the first few paragraphs that chastity is the most unpopular of the Christian virtues. I have more than a few acquaintances who would whole-heartedly agree! For many people, the ball drops here for Christianity. They base this on the fact that sexuality is comparable to all other natural human instincts: hunger, fear of venomous snakes, and the need for shelter. These instincts exist for the purpose of continuing the human race. We need nourishment to live, therefore we eat. We need to create other people to carry on humanity, therefore we have a sex drive. And if we were dumb enough to kiss a venomous snake, perhaps it is better for the race as a whole that we didn’t procreate. Accurate comparison, no? Haha. Allow me to get back on track.

Christianity is in this balance: It is stuck in an “either-or” conundrum. Either you marry and are faithful to one person sexually, or you choose complete abstinence. This leads Lewis to the conclusion that either Christianity is wrong, or our basic sexual instinct has gone wrong.

Back to biology. Let us take a closer look at the biological thought process on sex as an impulse toward procreation in comparison to the appetite. Lewis writes that if we indulge in this instinct, we certainly can overeat. A man can eat for two, but never for ten! So it follows, if the current state of our sexual affairs were in order, man would only indulge just a little over the biological need. This is not so! Sexual appetites have gone fare above and beyond what is needed to keep on making other generations.

Lewis also brings in a great analogy of the strip-tease. Suppose you were submerged in a culture where people would pay money and gather around to watch and drool over a cheeseburger being slowly revealed underneath a silver platter cover. Would you not think that this culture had something seriously wrong with their appetite for food? Is this not what we do as a culture in our appetite for sex?

There are those that would conclude that the culture above were starving. Why else would they do this? So are we starving for sex? No! We are practically bombarded with it. And still, we strive to satiate a seemingly insatiable appetite.

So, I went on a day trip to St. Augustine with my folks and sister today. In lieu of grabbing a school book, I found myself reaching for “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis. I was NOT disappointed. I am only about halfway through it, and I am finding it hard to put down even now. Everything was fine and dandy, until I reached the chapters on Sexual Morality and Christian Marriage. My jaw dropped! Have you ever been reading intently only to find yourself nodding along in agreement with the author? I do it all the time… and I feel silly!

For those of you who do not know me, (and seeing as how my average views are embarrassingly low, chances are you don’t! Haha) I should start out by saying that my obsession with these chapters, Sexual Morality and Christian Marriage are motivated by my recent decision to obtain a degree in Marriage and Family Therapy.

In a couple of posts, I would love to share with you some of Lewis’s thoughts on these two subjects.